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One of country's lowest minimum wages gets major hike

Minnesota Democrats have struck a deal to raise the state’s minimum wage to $9.50, party leaders are expected to announce on Monday.
Demonstrators rally at the Minnesota State Capitol in favor of raising the minimum wage on Feb. 25, 2014, in St. Paul, Minn.
Demonstrators rally at the Minnesota State Capitol in favor of raising the minimum wage on Feb. 25, 2014, in St. Paul, Minn.

Minnesota Democrats have struck a deal to raise the state’s minimum wage to $9.50 by 2016, party leaders announced on Monday.  

"No Minnesotan should have to work a 40-hour week and continue to live in poverty," Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party's Paul Thissen, the House Speaker, said, according the St. Cloud Times.

In a press conference on Monday, party leaders announced a crucial—and much fought over—part of the bill: the state’s minimum wage would be indexed—tied to inflation—starting in 2018, with an annual cap of 2.5%, though the governor’s administration does have the right to stop these automatic hikes.

While lawmakers had agreed on a $9.50 wage as early as last summer, they spent months negotiating over these automatic increases.

Minnesota’s current minimum wage is among the lowest in the nation—$5.25 for smaller companies, $6.15 for larger companies, though many employees are paid the higher, federal minimum wage of $7.25. After the hike, it will be among the highest minimum wages. 

Minnesota follows in the footsteps of Connecticut, which became the first state to pass a $10.10 minimum wage in March, and the 13 states who hiked their minimum wage last year.